Electronic apparatus and method for producing housing thereof

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides an electronic apparatus and a method for producing a housing, which relate to a technical field of electronics. The electronic apparatus comprises: a housing comprising a side wall forming an accommodating space and having an outer surface which is divided into K appearance layers, where K is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3, and wherein borderlines between adjacent layers in the K appearance layers are parallel to each other.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Chinese Patent Applications No.201420464396.0 filed on Aug. 18, 2014 and No.201410405859.0 filed onAug. 18, 2014 in the State Intellectual Property Office of China, theentire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The present application is a divisional application of U.S. applicationSer. No. 14/636,458, filed on Mar. 3, 2015, the entire disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure generally relates to a technical field ofelectronics, in particular to an electronic apparatus and a method forproducing a housing.

A housing of an electronic apparatus is a protective layer of theelectronic apparatus and a coat of the electronic apparatus. Thus, it isdesired that the housing not only has a good shatter and compressionresistance, but also has an elegant appearance and a good hand feeling.

For appearance, implementation of multilayer colors in the housing is amain scheme.

An intermediate frame, a front panel arranged in front of it and a rearpanel (i.e., back casing) mounted behind the intermediate frame areprovided to form the housing of the electronic apparatus such as a cellphone, a tablet computer.

However, it causes a complex producing process and degrades the handfeeling and appearance of the housing due to the difficulty ofassembling such electronic apparatus caused by three components (thefront panel, the rear panel and the intermediate frame).

SUMMARY

It provides an electronic apparatus comprising M electronic elements; ahousing having an accommodating space in which the M electronic elementsare fixed and arranged, the housing provided with N through-holes fromwhich N electronic elements of the M electronic elements are exposed,M>N≧1 and M and N are both positive integers, wherein the housingcomprises: a side wall forming the accommodating space and having anouter surface which is divided into K appearance layers, where K is apositive integer greater than or equal to 3, and wherein borderlinesbetween adjacent layers in the K appearance layers are parallel to eachother. The outer surface has an attractive visual effect because of itsdivided K appearance layers.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present application alsoprovides a method for producing a housing of an electronic apparatus,the method comprises: forming a first frame body by injection mouldingin a first mold, the first frame body forming a first portion of theside wall of the housing; moulding inserts by K−1 times: in the mouldinginserts at first time, putting the first frame body as a first insertinto a second mold and forming a second frame body by injectionmoulding, the second frame body constituting a second portion of theside wall of the housing, the second portion including the first portionand forming two appearance layers, wherein the first portion forms oneappearance and the part of the second portion other than the firstportion forms the other appearance; and do so, in the moulding insertsat the (K−1)th time, putting the (K−1)th frame body as a (K−1)th insertinto a Kth mold and forming a Kth frame body by injection moulding, theKth frame body constituting the side wall of the housing, the side wallforming K appearance layers, wherein K is a positive integer greaterthan or equal to 3.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to explain the embodiments of the present application, thedrawings that are needed to be used in the description of theembodiments are explained simply below. Apparently, the followingdrawings only illustrate some embodiments of the present application byway of examples. The skilled person in the art can envisage otherdrawings from the following ones without inventive concepts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a structure of an electronicapparatus according to a first embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a structure of a housing according tothe first embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a structure of an electronicapparatus according to a second embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a structure of a housing according tothe second embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a structure of an electronicapparatus according to a third embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a structure of a housing according tothe third embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a structure of an electronicapparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a structure of a housing according tothe fourth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a structure of a housing according tothe fourth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a method for producing a housing according toa fifth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of a method for producing a housing according toa sixth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a method for producing a housing according toa seventh embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of a method for producing a housing according toan eighth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing a structure of a first fixed moldaccording to the eighth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view showing a structure of a first frameaccording to the eighth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 16 is a schematic view showing a structure of a second fixed moldaccording to the eighth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 17 is a schematic view showing a structure of a second frameaccording to the eighth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 18 is a schematic view showing a structure of a Kth fixed moldaccording to the eighth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 19 is a side view showing the Kth fixed mold according to theeighth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 20 is a schematic sectional view showing a structure of the Kthfixed mold according to the eighth embodiment of the presentapplication.

FIG. 21 is a schematic view showing a structure of a movable moldaccording to the eighth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 22 is a side view showing the movable mold according to the eighthembodiment of the present application.

FIG. 23 is a schematic sectional view showing a structure of the movablemold according to the eighth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 24 is a schematic view showing a structure of a Kth mold accordingto the eighth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 25 is a schematic sectional view showing a structure of the Kthmold according to the eighth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 26 is a schematic view showing a structure of a housing accordingto the eighth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 27 is a schematic sectional view showing a structure of he housingaccording to the eighth embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 28 is a partial sectional view showing another electronic apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 29 is a schematic plan view showing a structure of anotherelectronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the presentapplication.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present application will be described hereinafter inmore detail with reference to figures of the attached drawings, so thatthe objects, technical solutions and advantages of the presentapplication will be more apparent.

First Embodiment

An embodiment of the present application provides an electronicapparatus. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the electronic apparatus 10comprises: M electronic elements 101; and a housing 102 having anaccommodating space 103 in which the M electronic elements 101 are fixedand arranged, the housing 102 provided with N through-holes from which Nelectronic elements 101 of the M electronic elements 101 are exposed,M>N≧1 and M and N are both positive integers.

As shown in FIG. 2, the housing 102 comprises: a side wall 104 formingthe accommodating space 103 and having an outer surface which is dividedinto K appearance layers, where K is a positive integer greater than orequal to 3, and borderlines 105 between adjacent layers in the Kappearance layers are parallel to each other.

The electronic elements 101 shown in FIG. 1 may be screens of theelectronic apparatus. In the embodiment of the present application, thehousing is designed to have an accommodating space in which the Melectronic elements are fixed and arranged, the housing provided with Nthrough-holes from which N electronic elements of the M electronicelements are exposed, M>N≧1 and M and N are both positive integers,wherein the housing comprises: a side wall forming the accommodatingspace and having an outer surface which is divided into K appearancelayers, where K is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3, andwherein borderlines between adjacent layers in the K appearance layersare parallel to each other. As the housing includes the side wallforming the accommodating space, it may avoid assembling theintermediate frame and the back casing in the prior art and thus mayreduce the complexity of producing process and facilitate assembling.Division of the outer surface of the side wall into the K appearancelayers enhances the appearance of the housing. Parallel borderlinesbetween adjacent layers in the K appearance layers are may improve thehand feeling of the housing.

Second Embodiment

An embodiment of the present application provides an electronicapparatus. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the electronic apparatus comprises:

M electronic elements 201; and a housing 202 having an accommodatingspace 203 in which the M electronic elements 201 are fixed and arranged,the housing 202 provided with N through-holes from which N electronicelements 201 of the M electronic elements 201 are exposed, M>N≧1 and Mand N are both positive integers.

As shown in FIG. 4, the housing 202 comprises: a side wall 204 formingthe accommodating space 203 and having an outer surface which is dividedinto K appearance layers, where K is a positive integer greater than orequal to 3, and borderlines 205 between adjacent layers in the Kappearance layers are parallel to each other.

In the embodiment, all of points on a first borderline 2051 between afirst layer 2041 in the K appearance layers located on the top of theouter surface of the side wall 204 and a second layer 2042 adjacent tothe first layer 2041 have the same vertical distance from a top side ofthe outer surface of the side wall.

Further, all of vertical distances between any two adjacent borderlinesare equal.

In the embodiment, each of the K appearance layers has a differentappearance from those of others of the K appearance layers.

In particular, the different appearance may be achieved by the followingmeans:

all of the K appearance layers have the same material, but havedifferent colors from each other. In producing process, it may bemoulded by a single color injection machine and then by sprayed withmultiple colors to achieve the multilayer colored housing. The detailsof the producing process will be explained in the Fifth Embodiment.

In the embodiment of the present application, the housing is designed tohave an accommodating space in which the M electronic elements are fixedand arranged, the housing provided with N through-holes from which Nelectronic elements of the M electronic elements are exposed, M>N≧1 andM and N are both positive integers, wherein the housing comprises: aside wall forming the accommodating space and having an outer surfacewhich is divided into K appearance layers, where K is a positive integergreater than or equal to 3, and wherein borderlines between adjacentlayers in the K appearance layers are parallel to each other. As thehousing includes the side wall forming the accommodating space, it mayavoid assembling the intermediate frame and the back casing in the priorart and thus may reduce the complexity of producing process andfacilitate assembling. Division of the outer surface of the side wallinto the K appearance layers enhances the appearance of the housing.Parallel borderlines between adjacent layers in the K appearance layersare may improve the hand feeling of the housing.

Third Embodiment

An embodiment of the present application provides an electronicapparatus. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the electronic apparatus comprises:

M electronic elements 301; and a housing 302 having an accommodatingspace 303 in which the M electronic elements 301 are fixed and arranged,the housing 302 provided with N through-holes from which N electronicelements 301 of the M electronic elements 301 are exposed, M>N≧1 and Mand N are both positive integers.

As shown in FIG. 6, the housing 302 comprises: a side wall 304 formingthe accommodating space 303 and having an outer surface which is dividedinto K appearance layers, where K is a positive integer greater than orequal to 3, and borderlines 305 between adjacent layers in the Kappearance layers are parallel to each other.

In the embodiment, all of points on a first borderline 3051 between afirst layer 3041 in the K appearance layers located on the top of theouter surface of the side wall 304 and a second layer 3042 adjacent tothe first layer 3041 have the same vertical distance from a top side ofthe outer surface of the side wall.

Further, all of vertical distances between any two adjacent borderlinesare equal.

In the embodiment, each of the K appearance layers has a differentappearance from those of others of the K appearance layers.

In particular, the different appearance may be achieved by the followingmeans:

each of the K appearance layers has a different material from those ofthe others of the K appearance layers.

Or, two of the K appearance layers have the same material, but havedifferent colors from each other, and a layer between the two layers hasdifferent material from the two layers. In producing process, a producthaving two color effects may be moulded at one time by a double colorsinjection machine and then “a waistband” is assembled between the twocolors to form a three-colors housing. The details of the producingprocess will be explained in the Sixth Embodiment.

In the embodiment of the present application, the housing is designed tohave an accommodating space in which the M electronic elements are fixedand arranged, the housing provided with N through-holes from which Nelectronic elements of the M electronic elements are exposed, M>N≧1 andM and N are both positive integers, wherein the housing comprises: aside wall forming the accommodating space and having an outer surfacewhich is divided into K appearance layers, where K is a positive integergreater than or equal to 3, and wherein borderlines between adjacentlayers in the K appearance layers are parallel to each other. As thehousing includes the side wall forming the accommodating space, it mayavoid assembling the intermediate frame and the back casing in the priorart and thus may reduce the complexity of producing process andfacilitate assembling. Division of the outer surface of the side wallinto the K appearance layers enhances the appearance of the housing.Parallel borderlines between adjacent layers in the K appearance layersare may improve the hand feeling of the housing.

Fourth Embodiment

An embodiment of the present application provides an electronicapparatus. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the electronic apparatus comprises:

M electronic elements 401; and a housing 402 having an accommodatingspace 403 in which the M electronic elements 401 are fixed and arranged,the housing 402 provided with N through-holes from which N electronicelements 401 of the M electronic elements 401 are exposed, M>N≧1 and Mand N are both positive integers.

As shown in FIGS. 8-9, the housing 402 comprises: a side wall 404forming the accommodating space 403 and having an outer surface which isdivided into K appearance layers, where K is a positive integer greaterthan or equal to 3, and borderlines 405 between adjacent layers in the Kappearance layers are parallel to each other.

In the embodiment, all of points on a first borderline 4051 between afirst layer 4041 in the K appearance layers located on the top of theouter surface of the side wall 404 and a second layer 4042 adjacent tothe first layer 4041 have the same vertical distance from a top side ofthe outer surface of the side wall.

Further, all of vertical distances between any two adjacent borderlinesare equal.

In the embodiment, each of the K appearance layers has a differentappearance from those of others of the K appearance layers.

In particular, the different appearance may be achieved by the followingmeans: each of the K appearance layers has a different material fromthose of the others of the K appearance layers. The details of theproducing process will be explained in the Seventh Embodiment and theEighth Embodiment.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the Kth layer 4043 in the K layers locatedat the bottom of the outer surface of the side wall 404 includes abottom frame 404 a, a bottom surface 404 b and an inner surface 404 cformed integrally. The bottom frame 404 a is connected to an edge of thebottom surface 404 b. The inner surface 404 c is provided on the bottomframe 404 a. The inner surface 404 c is in contact with the innerprofiles of the first layer 4041, the second layer 4042, . . . , the(K−1)th layer. The inner surface 404 c and the bottom surface 404 b formthe accommodating space for receiving the electronic elements.

By means of the above design of the inner surface, the forces applied tothe first to the (K−1)th layers are decreased to avoid the breaking ofthe side wall of the housing. As in the embodiment, each layer is madefrom the material different from those of the other layers, there is acertain, but not very strong, interface bonding force between twomaterials in moulding inserts. Thus, it has a certain risk of breaking.In the embodiment, the Kth layer of the bottom frame, the bottom surfaceand the inner surface are made from the same material and moulded at onetime. Its mechanical properties may meet the normal mechanicalrequirements (for the same thickness of the side wall, the tensilestrength of the side wall of the single injection member is greater thanthe interface bonding force between two materials of the side wallmoulded by inserts), and it may be the primary stressed member. Adisplay screen, an inner main board and other electronic elements arefixed on the member (the bottom frame, the bottom surface and the innersurface). In contrast to it, the interface between the first layer andthe second layer, . . . , the interface between the (K−2)th layer andthe (K−1)th layer are subject to tiny forces, and thus, a risk ofbreaking in the side wall of the housing will not occur in use.

In the embodiment of the present application, the housing is designed tohave an accommodating space in which the M electronic elements are fixedand arranged, the housing provided with N through-holes from which Nelectronic elements of the M electronic elements are exposed, M>N≧1 andM and N are both positive integers, wherein the housing comprises: aside wall forming the accommodating space and having an outer surfacewhich is divided into K appearance layers, where K is a positive integergreater than or equal to 3, and wherein borderlines between adjacentlayers in the K appearance layers are parallel to each other. As thehousing includes the side wall forming the accommodating space, it mayavoid assembling the intermediate frame and the back casing in the priorart and thus may reduce the complexity of producing process andfacilitate assembling. Division of the outer surface of the side wallinto the K appearance layers enhances the appearance of the housing.Parallel borderlines between adjacent layers in the K appearance layersare may improve the hand feeling of the housing.

Besides the above embodiments. FIGS. 28 and 29 show additionalembodiments of the electronic apparatus of the present application.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 28, in the above electronic apparatus,K=3, and the housing 1 is moulded integrally. The outer surface of theside wall 2 is formed with a groove 25 in which an intermediate bar 23is arranged. The intermediate bar has an appearance surface forming anintermediate layer in the K appearance layers. The first layer 22 in theK appearance layers is formed between the intermediate bar 23 and thetop side of the outer surface of the side wall 2, and the second layer24 in the K appearance layers is formed between the intermediate bar 23and the bottom side of the outer surface of the side wall 2. Inparticular, in an embodiment, the appearance surface of the side wall 2is divided into three appearance layers. The outer surface of the firstlayer 22 may be coated with a first color for a first appearance and theouter surface of the second layer 24 may be coated with a second colorfor a second appearance. As the groove 25 is provided between the firstlayer 22 and the second layer 24, it may facilitate coating of the firstlayer 22 and the second layer 24. In the process of coating, the groove25 may be coated with the first color and the second color by tinyamount, and the intermediate bar 23 having the third color may beembedded in the groove 25. In this way, an obvious borderline 21 isprovided between the intermediate bar 23 and the first layer 22, thesecond layer 24. By this mean, the processing of the housing 1 becomeseasier and the cost becomes lower.

Further, the intermediate bar 23 in transited into the first layer 22smoothly at the borderline 21 between the intermediate bar 23 and thefirst layer 22, and the intermediate bar 23 in transited into the secondlayer 24 smoothly at the borderline 21 between the intermediate bar 23and the second layer 24. In this way, the appearance surface of the sidewall 2 conforms to the customs of the user in visual.

Further, in the electronic apparatus, the housing 1 further includes abottom surface (not shown). The bottom surface has the same appearanceas that of the bottom layer on the appearance surface of the side wall2. In an embodiment, the bottom surface of the housing 1 and the bottomlayer on the appearance surface of the side wall 2 are mouldedintegrally to form the back casing of the housing. Then, the sameappearance may be provided on the back casing. In this way, theprocessing is easier and the cost may be reduced. In an embodiment, thebottom surface may have the appearance of wood grains or skin grains.

Further, as shown in FIG. 29, the electronic apparatus further comprisesa button 3 provided on the intermediate layer in the K appearancelayers, where K=3. In particular, the appearance surface of the sidewall 2 is divided into three appearance layers. The button 3 provided onthe intermediate layer in the K appearance layers may conform to thecustoms of the user more and may facilitate the operation of the user.Of course, in other embodiments, the button 3 may also be arranged onthe top layer or bottom layer in the three appearance layers. It may beprovided specifically in accordance with the practical requirements.

Further, in the above electronic apparatus, all of the K appearancelayers are made of the same material with different color parameterappearance respectively. In particular, all of the K appearance layersare made of the same material and the outer surfaces of all of the Kappearance layers are coated with different colors such that all ofappearance layers have different appearance.

Further, in another embodiment, in the above electronic apparatus, allof the K appearance layers are made of different materials respectivelyand all of different materials have different appearance respectively.In this example, the K appearance layers represent different appearanceby different materials.

Further, in another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 28, in the aboveelectronic apparatus, the first layer 22 in the K appearance layerslocated on the top of the outer surface of the side wall 2 and thesecond layer 24 in the K appearance layers located on the bottom of theouter surface of the side wall 2 are moulded by double colors injectionmoulding. Then, the intermediate bar with different colors may beembedded in the groove 25 such that the side wall 2 has three appearancelayers. In this way, the first layer 22 and the second layer 24represent different appearance by double colors injection moulding,which may cause the producing process to become easier and cheaper.

Fifth Embodiment

An embodiment of the present application provides a method for producinga housing of an electronic apparatus. As shown in FIG. 10, the methodcomprises:

Step 501: forming a raw housing by injection moulding at one time by asingle color injection machine.

Step 502: processing the raw housing by multiple colors shield sprayingsuch that the outer surface of the side wall is divided into Kappearance layers, where K is a positive integer greater than or equalto 3 and borderlines between adjacent layers in the K appearance layersare parallel to each other.

In this example, the multiple colors shield spraying is to shield thespecific part of the side wall by a specific shielding jig and to spraythe unshielded part with colors. The multilayer colors housing may beobtained by the shield spraying by multiple times.

In the embodiment of the present application, the raw housing isprocessed by the multiple colors shield spraying such that the outersurface of the side wall is divided into K appearance layers, where K isa positive integer greater than or equal to 3 and borderlines betweenadjacent layers in the K appearance layers are parallel to each other.As the housing includes the side wall forming the accommodating space,it may avoid assembling the intermediate frame and the back casing inthe prior art and thus may reduce the complexity of producing processand facilitate assembling. Division of the outer surface of the sidewall into the K appearance layers enhances the appearance of thehousing. Parallel borderlines between adjacent layers in the Kappearance layers are may improve the hand feeling of the housing.

Sixth Embodiment

An embodiment of the present application provides a method for producinga housing of an electronic apparatus. As shown in FIG. 11, the methodcomprises:

Step 601: forming a product having two colors effects by injectionmoulding at one time by a double colors injection machine, the productbeing provided an art groove at the intermediate position of the sidewall thereof.

Step 602: assembling an opened thin frame (waistband) with the thirdcolor in the art groove to obtain the three layer colors housing.

In the embodiment of the present application, the raw housing isprocessed by the multiple colors shield spraying such that the outersurface of the side wall is divided into K appearance layers, where K isa positive integer greater than or equal to 3 and borderlines betweenadjacent layers in the K appearance layers are parallel to each other.As the housing includes the side wall forming the accommodating space,it may avoid assembling the intermediate frame and the back casing inthe prior art and thus may reduce the complexity of producing processand facilitate assembling. Division of the outer surface of the sidewall into the K appearance layers enhances the appearance of thehousing. Parallel borderlines between adjacent layers in the Kappearance layers are may improve the hand feeling of the housing.

Seventh Embodiment

An embodiment of the present application provides a method for producinga housing of an electronic apparatus. As shown in FIG. 12, the methodcomprises:

Step 701: forming a first frame body by injection moulding in a firstmold, the first frame body forming a first portion of the side wall ofthe housing;

Step 702: moulding inserts by K−1 times.

In particular, in the moulding inserts at first time, putting the firstframe body as a first insert into a second mold and forming a secondframe body by injection moulding, the second frame body constituting asecond portion of the side wall of the housing, the second portionincluding the first portion and forming two appearance layers, whereinthe first portion forms one appearance and the part of the secondportion other than the first portion forms the other appearance; and doso,

in the moulding inserts at the (K−1)th time, putting the (K−1)th framebody as a (K−1)th insert into a Kth mold and forming a Kth frame body byinjection moulding, the Kth frame body constituting the side wall of thehousing, the side wall having K appearance layers, where K is a positiveinteger greater than or equal to 3.

The housing produced by the embodiment has a very clear layer to layerborder, has no layer to layer gaps and has no breaking beds, in contrastto the housing produced by the Fifth embodiment.

In contrast to the housing produced by the Sixth embodiment, theembodiment uses the single color injection machine to produce thehousing such that the cost is significantly reduced in comparison withthe double colors injection machine. The housing produced by theembodiment has a very clear layer to layer border, has no layer to layergaps and has no breaking beds.

In the embodiment of the present application, a first frame body byinjection moulding is formed in a first mold and then inserts aremoulded by K−1 times. In particular, in the moulding inserts at firsttime, the first frame body as a first insert is put into a second moldand a second frame body is formed by injection moulding, and do so, inthe moulding inserts at the (K−1)th time, the (K−1)th frame body is putas a (K−1)th insert into a Kth mold and a Kth frame body is formed byinjection moulding, the Kth frame body constituting the side wall of thehousing, the side wall forming K appearance layers, where K is apositive integer greater than or equal to 3. As the housing includes theside wall forming the accommodating space, it may avoid assembling theintermediate frame and the back casing in the prior art and thus mayreduce the complexity of producing process and facilitate assembling.Division of the outer surface of the side wall into the K appearancelayers enhances the appearance of the housing. Parallel borderlinesbetween adjacent layers in the K appearance layers are may improve thehand feeling of the housing.

Eighth Embodiment

An embodiment of the present application provides a method for producinga housing of an electronic apparatus. As shown in FIG. 13, the methodcomprises:

Step 801: forming a first frame body by injection moulding in a firstmold, the first frame body forming a first portion of the side wall ofthe housing.

In particular, the first mold includes a first fixed mold 80 (see FIG.14) and a first cover, the first fixed mold 80 being provided with afirst annular groove 81

The structure of the first frame body 90 is shown in FIG. 15.

Step 802: moulding inserts by K−1 times.

In particular, in the moulding inserts at first time, putting the firstframe body as a first insert into a second mold and forming a secondframe body by injection moulding, the second frame body constituting asecond portion of the side wall of the housing, the second portionincluding the first portion and forming two appearance layers, whereinthe first portion forms one appearance and the part of the secondportion other than the first portion forms the other appearance; and doso,

in the moulding inserts at the (K−1)th time, putting the (K−1)th framebody as a (K−1)th insert into a Kth mold and forming a Kth frame body byinjection moulding, the Kth frame body constituting the side wall of thehousing, the side wall having K appearance layers, where K is a positiveinteger greater than or equal to 3.

In particular, the second mold includes a second fixed 100 (see FIG. 16)and a second cover, the second fixed mold 100 being provided with asecond annular groove 1001. The first annular groove 81 has the sameshape as that of the second annular groove 1001. The second annulargroove 1001 has a depth greater than that of the first annular groove81. In mold design, the first fixed mold 80 and the second fixed mold100 have the same structure except that their depths are different fromeach other. Certainly, the first fixed mold 80 and the second fixed mold100 may also be designed to have other different structures.

In addition, the first cover in the first mold and the second cover inthe second mold may have the same shape. In order to save the cost, theymay be implemented as the same cover. The cover has the main function ofcovering the groove in the mold in injection.

The structure of the second frame body 110 is shown in FIG. 17. Thesecond frame body 110 includes the first portion (i.e., the first framebody 90) and the part 1102 of the second portion other than the firstportion.

In particular, the Kth mold includes the Kth fixed mold 120 (as shown inFIGS. 18-20) and a movable mold 130 (as shown in FIGS. 21-23). The Kthfixed mold 120 is provided with a groove 1201 thereon and the movablemold 130 is provided with a protrusion 1301 thereon. As illustrated inFIGS. 24-25, when the Kth fixed mold 120 and the movable mold 130 areclosed, a housing shaped space 1401 between the groove 1201 and theprotrusion 1301 on the Kth mold 140 is formed. The outer profile of thespace 1401 has the same shape as that of the first annular groove.

In particular, the housing produced by the step 602 (i.e., the Kth framebody) is shown in FIGS. 26-27. The housing 150 includes the (K−1)thframe body 1501 and the layer 1502 formed by moulding inserts at the(K−1)th time.

In the embodiment, the bottom surface 150 b of the housing 150 is formedby moulding inserts at the (K−1)th time.

The inner surface 150 c of the housing 150 is formed by moulding insertsat the (K−1)th time and the (K−1)th frame body is arranged around theinner surface 150 c and the inside of the (K−1)th frame body is combinedto the outside of the inner surface 150 c together. Further, the bottomframe 150 a is also formed upon moulding inserts at the (K−1)th time.The bottom frame 150 a is connected to an edge of the bottom surface 150b and the inner face 150 c is provided on the bottom frame 150 a. Thedesign of the above inner surface may reduce the force to which thefirst to (K−1)th layers are subject to avoid breaking of the side wallof the housing. As each of the layers is made from the materialdifferent from those of the others in the embodiment, there is acertain, but not very strong, interface bonding force between twomaterials. Thus, it has a certain risk of breaking. In the embodiment,the Kth layer of the bottom frame, the bottom surface and the innersurface are made from the same material and moulded at one time. Itsmechanical properties may meet the normal mechanical requirements (forthe same thickness of the side wall, the tensile strength of the sidewall of the single injection member is greater than the interfacebonding force between two materials of the side wall moulded byinserts), and it may be the primary stressed member. A display screen,an inner main board and other electronic elements are fixed on themember (the bottom frame, the bottom surface and the inner surface). Incontrast to it, the interface between the first layer and the secondlayer, . . . , the interface between the (K−2)th layer and the (K−1)thlayer are subject to tiny forces, and thus, a risk of breaking on theside wall of the housing will not occur in use.

In the moulding inserts at the (K−1)th time, putting the (K−1)th framebody as the (K−1)th insert into the Kth mold 140 having deformed portionand forming the Kth frame body by injection moulding to form the sidewall of the housing, the deformed portion being configured to counteractthe deformation of the frame body in the moulding inserts by the K−1times, during the injection moulding.

In particular, the Kth mold 140 has grooves and protrusions that areformed by arc-shape faces, the arc-shape faces having curvaturesdesigned on the basis of the deformation quantity of the housingobtained by moulding inserts by K−1 times by general molds.

In a general injection moulding, (the average condition of most ofmanufacturers without limited by resources), the insert mouldingproducts have relatively large deformations. Without predeformation ofthe mold, the deformation may be corrected in a certain case byadjusting the injection process, however, it cannot be corrected at allin another case, in particular when the insert moulding products aremade from the materials having large difference in physical properties(for example, thermal expansion coefficient, thermal conductcoefficient, melt mobility, melt temperature) or from special materials,the insert moulding products will have very serious warpage deformationthat cannot be solved only by adjusting the injection process. Forexample, two materials for injection have very large difference inthermal expansion coefficients, e.g., the material injected later hasthe thermal expansion coefficient significantly greater than that of thematerial as the insert, the final product obtained by insert mouldingtends to have large deformation, even to break directly. In thiscircumstance, the warpage deformation cannot be solved only by adjustingthe injection process conditions. However, the process of“predeformation” can solve the technical problem.

Thus, the housing produced by the embodiment will not generate thewarpage deformation in comparison with those produced by the FifthEmbodiment and the Sixth Embodiment.

In particular, when the predeformation is designed, its parameter(curvature) may be obtained by the following means:

In one method, the insert moulding is carried out in a general processconditions by means of easy dismountable cavity modules (nopredeformation, the cavity is an ideal product state). At that time, theinsert moulding products will be deformed to some extent. The parameterfor deformation of the product is tested and reverse design is carriedout on the basis of the parameter in the extent of deformation (forexample, if the insert moulding products projects outwards to deform,the normal mold insert cavity will be designed to be recessed to thecorresponding extent) in the normal mold insert cavity design, and thusthe desired parameter will be obtained. In final moulding, it may beadjusted slightly by the variation of the moulding process parameters.In this way, the housing product with little deformation or withoutdeformation may be obtained. In another method, the warpage deformationdata of the insert moulding products may be simulated and calculated bysimulation analysis software (such as Moldflow) and the mold is designedreversely on the basis of it.

Further, in the step 802, in the insert moulding, the insert position atwhich a melt material enters in a high temperature is controlled tocorrespond to the insert position at which it enters in the mouldinginserts at the last previous time.

Generally, in the insert moulding, the moulding runner may cause localmelt deformation near the inserts due to fast high pressure impacts onthe high temperature melt plastics (in this circumstance, it can be seenfrom appearance that there is a certain curve deformation of thelayer-to-layer border of the two materials and the insert may beconcaved slightly in local), but the region that it affects is notlarge. As long as the region where the melt deformation occurs isdesigned in the part which will be removed subsequently by CNC, thedeformation of the border between two colors may be avoided to be lefton the final housing. For example, if the moulding runner is designedoutside the side wall and the part outside the side wall will be cut outby CNC, the layer to layer border of the housing will be linear withoutdeformation. Certainly, the moulding runner may also be designed atother position as long as the position corresponds to the position cutout by the CNC. That is, the form, number and position of the mouldingrunner of the mold may be designed flexibly. In combination theoperation of removing redundant part of the moulding member by CNC, thecurve deformation of the color border among the multicolors may beavoided completely.

Step 803: removing a redundant part of the housing at its periphery byusing a numerical control processing.

In the embodiment, the step of removing a redundant part of the housingat its periphery by using a numerical control processing comprises:

cutting in a longitudinal direction at the position of the redundantpart of the housing at its periphery to remove the part in which theborderlines between layers are deformed in the injection moulding, thatis, carrying out the cutting process by CNC process.

After the moulding defects (for example, margin/fin at the border ofdifferent color materials, blank and breaking bend at the runner) causedby moulding inserts by multiple times are milled by CNC as described inthe step 803, the remaining part has a very clear layer to layer border,has no layer to layer gaps and has no breaking beds.

Further, in the steps 801 and 802 of moulding, decoration particles withdiameters of tens of micrometers to hundreds of micrometers may be addedinto the material. After the step 803, some decoration particles may becut out to represent the special appearance, to have a distinguishingfeature.

Step 804: shining and polishing the processed housing of the electronicapparatus and then spraying protective paint onto a surface of thehousing of the electronic apparatus.

By means of the above steps 803 and 804, the appearance and hand feelingof the housing may be improved.

In the embodiment of the present application, a first frame body byinjection moulding is formed in a first mold and then inserts aremoulded by K−1 times. In particular, in the moulding inserts at firsttime, the first frame body as a first insert is put into a second moldand a second frame body is formed by injection moulding, and do so, inthe moulding inserts at the (K−1)th time, the (K−1)th frame body is putas a (K−1)th insert into a Kth mold and a Kth frame body is formed byinjection moulding, the Kth frame body constituting the side wall of thehousing, the side wall forming K appearance layers, where K is apositive integer greater than or equal to 3. As the housing includes theside wall forming the accommodating space, it may avoid assembling theintermediate frame and the back casing in the prior art and thus mayreduce the complexity of producing process and facilitate assembling.Division of the outer surface of the side wall into the K appearancelayers enhances the appearance of the housing. Parallel borderlinesbetween adjacent layers in the K appearance layers are may improve thehand feeling of the housing.

The numerals of the embodiments of the present application are providedonly by way of examples, instead of representing the quality of theembodiments.

The above embodiments are only those of the present application by wayof examples instead of limiting the present application. Anymodifications equal replacements, and variations may be envisagedwithout departing from the principles and spirits of the disclosureshould fall within the scope of the present application.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for producing a housing of an electronicapparatus, comprising: forming a first frame body by injection mouldingin a first mold, the first frame body forming a first portion of theside wall of the housing; moulding inserts by K−1 times: in the mouldinginserts at first time, putting the first frame body as a first insertinto a second mold and forming a second frame body by injectionmoulding, the second frame body constituting a second portion of theside wall of the housing, the second portion including the first portionand forming two appearance layers, wherein the first portion forms oneappearance and the part of the second portion other than the firstportion forms the other appearance; in the moulding inserts at the(K−1)th time, putting the (K−1)th frame body as a (K−1)th insert into aKth mold and forming a Kth frame body by injection moulding, the Kthframe body constituting the side wall of the housing, the side wallforming K appearance layers, wherein K is a positive integer greaterthan or equal to
 3. 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein in themoulding inserts at the (K−1)th time, forming a bottom surface of thehousing.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein in the mouldinginserts at the (K−1)th time, forming an inner surface of the housing,the (K−1)th frame body being provided around the inner surface and aninside of the (K−1)th frame body being combined with an outside of theinner surface together.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein inthe moulding inserts at the (K−1)th time, putting the (K−1)th frame bodyas the (K−1)th insert into the Kth mold having deformed portion andforming the Kth frame body by injection moulding to form the side wallof the housing, the deformed portion being configured to counteract thedeformation of the frame body in the moulding inserts by the K−1 times,during the injection moulding.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 4,wherein the Kth mold has grooves and protrusions that are formed byarc-shape faces, the arc-shape faces having curvatures designed on thebasis of the deformation quantity of the housing obtained by mouldinginserts by K−1 times.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein inthe moulding inserts, the insert position at which a melt materialenters in a high temperature is controlled to correspond to the insertposition at which it enters in the moulding inserts at the last previoustime.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the method furthercomprises: removing a redundant part of the housing at its periphery byusing a numerical control processing.
 8. The method as claimed in claim7, wherein removing a redundant part of the housing at its periphery byusing a numerical control processing comprises: cutting in alongitudinal direction at the position of the redundant part of thehousing at its periphery to remove the part in which the borderlinesbetween layers are deformed in the injection moulding.
 9. The method asclaimed in claim 7, further comprising: shining and polishing theprocessed housing of the electronic apparatus and then sprayingprotective paint onto a surface of the housing of the electronicapparatus.